Skip to content

UNINSTALL.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
318 lines (222 loc) · 7.8 KB

UNINSTALL.md

File metadata and controls

318 lines (222 loc) · 7.8 KB
layout default
title Uninstalling Rails Error Dashboard
permalink /docs/UNINSTALL

Uninstalling Rails Error Dashboard

This guide explains how to completely remove Rails Error Dashboard from your application.

Quick Start - Automated Uninstall (Recommended)

The fastest way to uninstall is using the automated uninstall generator:

rails generate rails_error_dashboard:uninstall

This will:

  • Show you what will be removed
  • Provide both manual and automated options
  • Ask for confirmation before making changes
  • Remove initializer, routes, and migrations
  • Optionally drop database tables (with confirmation)

Uninstall Options

# Keep error data in database (don't drop tables)
rails generate rails_error_dashboard:uninstall --keep-data

# Skip confirmation prompts (USE WITH CAUTION)
rails generate rails_error_dashboard:uninstall --skip-confirmation

# Show manual instructions only (don't perform automated removal)
rails generate rails_error_dashboard:uninstall --manual-only

Manual Uninstall

If you prefer to uninstall manually or the automated uninstaller doesn't work, follow these steps:

Step 1: Remove from Gemfile

Open your Gemfile and remove:

gem 'rails_error_dashboard'

Then run:

bundle install

Step 2: Remove Initializer

Delete the configuration file:

rm config/initializers/rails_error_dashboard.rb

Step 3: Remove Route

Open config/routes.rb and remove:

mount RailsErrorDashboard::Engine => '/error_dashboard'

Step 4: Remove Migrations

Delete all Rails Error Dashboard migration files:

rm db/migrate/*rails_error_dashboard*.rb

Or manually delete these files from db/migrate/:

  • *_create_rails_error_dashboard_error_logs.rb
  • *_add_better_tracking_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_add_controller_action_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_add_optimized_indexes_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_remove_environment_from_error_logs.rb
  • *_add_enhanced_metrics_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_add_similarity_tracking_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_create_error_occurrences.rb
  • *_create_cascade_patterns.rb
  • *_create_error_baselines.rb
  • *_add_workflow_fields_to_error_logs.rb
  • *_create_error_comments.rb

Step 5: Drop Database Tables (⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE)

WARNING: This will permanently delete all your error tracking data!

Option A: Using Rake Task (Recommended)

rails rails_error_dashboard:db:drop

This will:

  • Show you how many records will be deleted
  • Ask for confirmation
  • Drop tables in the correct order (respects foreign keys)

Option B: Manual SQL

In Rails console or database client:

# Rails console
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS rails_error_dashboard_error_comments CASCADE')
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS rails_error_dashboard_error_occurrences CASCADE')
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS rails_error_dashboard_cascade_patterns CASCADE')
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS rails_error_dashboard_error_baselines CASCADE')
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS rails_error_dashboard_error_logs CASCADE')

Or using ActiveRecord::Migration:

ActiveRecord::Migration.drop_table(:rails_error_dashboard_error_comments, if_exists: true)
ActiveRecord::Migration.drop_table(:rails_error_dashboard_error_occurrences, if_exists: true)
ActiveRecord::Migration.drop_table(:rails_error_dashboard_cascade_patterns, if_exists: true)
ActiveRecord::Migration.drop_table(:rails_error_dashboard_error_baselines, if_exists: true)
ActiveRecord::Migration.drop_table(:rails_error_dashboard_error_logs, if_exists: true)

Step 6: Clean Up Environment Variables (Optional)

Remove these environment variables from .env or your environment configuration:

# Authentication
ERROR_DASHBOARD_USER
ERROR_DASHBOARD_PASSWORD

# Notifications
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
ERROR_NOTIFICATION_EMAILS
DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL
PAGERDUTY_INTEGRATION_KEY
WEBHOOK_URLS

# Configuration
DASHBOARD_BASE_URL
USE_SEPARATE_ERROR_DB

Step 7: Restart Your Application

# Development
rails restart

# Or kill and restart your server
kill -9 <pid>
rails server

# Production (depends on your setup)
systemctl restart myapp
# or
touch tmp/restart.txt  # For Passenger

Partial Uninstall Options

Keep Data, Remove Code

If you want to keep your error data but stop tracking new errors:

  1. Remove the gem from Gemfile and run bundle install
  2. Keep migrations and database tables - your data remains accessible
  3. Remove initializer and routes - dashboard won't be accessible
  4. Restart your application

Later, if you want to view historical data, reinstall the gem and run rails db:migrate.

Keep Tracking, Remove Dashboard UI

If you want to keep error logging but remove the dashboard:

  1. Keep the gem in Gemfile
  2. Remove the route from config/routes.rb
  3. Disable middleware in initializer: 
    config.enable_middleware = false
config.enable_error_subscriber = false

Verification

After uninstalling, verify everything is removed:

Check Files

# Should return nothing
grep -r "rails_error_dashboard" config/
ls config/initializers/rails_error_dashboard.rb
ls db/migrate/*rails_error_dashboard*.rb

# Should not include the gem
grep "rails_error_dashboard" Gemfile

Check Database

# Rails console
rails console

# Should return false or raise error
ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?('rails_error_dashboard_error_logs')

Check Routes

# Should not include /error_dashboard
rails routes | grep error_dashboard

Troubleshooting

"Table doesn't exist" Errors After Uninstall

If you're seeing errors about missing tables after uninstalling:

  1. Make sure you've removed the gem from Gemfile and run bundle install
  2. Check if migrations are still present in db/migrate/
  3. Restart your Rails server
  4. Check your schema.rb or structure.sql - you may need to regenerate it: 
    rails db:schema:dump

Cannot Drop Tables Due to Foreign Key Constraints

Drop tables in this order:

  1. rails_error_dashboard_error_comments
  2. rails_error_dashboard_error_occurrences
  3. rails_error_dashboard_cascade_patterns
  4. rails_error_dashboard_error_baselines
  5. rails_error_dashboard_error_logs (drop last)

Or use CASCADE:

DROP TABLE rails_error_dashboard_error_comments CASCADE;
DROP TABLE rails_error_dashboard_error_occurrences CASCADE;
DROP TABLE rails_error_dashboard_cascade_patterns CASCADE;
DROP TABLE rails_error_dashboard_error_baselines CASCADE;
DROP TABLE rails_error_dashboard_error_logs CASCADE;

Migrations Still Running

If you deleted migration files but Rails is still trying to run them:

# Reset migration status
rails db:migrate:status

# If you see pending Rails Error Dashboard migrations, mark them as down
rails db:migrate:down VERSION=<version_number>

Reinstalling Later

If you decide to reinstall Rails Error Dashboard later:

# Add to Gemfile
gem 'rails_error_dashboard'

# Install
bundle install
rails generate rails_error_dashboard:install
rails db:migrate

# Your previous data will still be there if you kept the database tables

Need Help?

If you encounter issues during uninstall:

Feedback

We're sorry to see you go! If you have a moment, we'd love to know why you're uninstalling:

  • GitHub Discussions: Share your feedback (optional but appreciated)
  • GitHub Issues: Report bugs or missing features that led to uninstall

Your feedback helps us improve Rails Error Dashboard for everyone. Thank you! 🙏